Daily Devotional - January 16, 2013 "In a Word"

Moses was very humble—more humble than any other person on earth (v.3, emphasis added).

This past week I’ve been working on a labor of love. My wife, Lynn, is reaching a significant birthday milestone, so I’ve decided to throw her a party. One game I came up with is “Lynn in a word.” The idea is for party attendees to think of a word that describes Lynn best and write it down on a note card. On the other side of the card, they’ll write their name. At the party, Lynn will draw the cards from a basket and then the individuals whose cards are selected will take a few moments to tell a Lynn anecdote and why they selected the word they did.

From Numbers 12, we see a word used to describe Moses: humble(v.3). His brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, had felt that Moses was wrong in marrying “a Cushite woman” (v.1). (You gotta love siblings—always picking on their brothers or sisters.) But God shut down their criticism (v.8) as He affirmed that Moses was humble (by allowing v.3 to be written down), and by also saying, “He is the one I trust” (v.7). Wow. Imagine if God used the word trust as the best label for you!

Think of other people in the Bible. What word would you use to define Abraham? Jacob? Deborah? Ruth? David? Jeremiah? Mary? Peter?

What word would God use to describe you?

Our character is revealed throughout our lives—good times, bad times, and everything in-between. During Jesus’ final hours before His death, He said to His disciples, “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). He said this after humbly washing their feet, living out humility.

What could be the best word God might use to describe you? Humble would be nice. But Christlike would be best!

—Tom Felten

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Read John 13:34 and note a key character quality that Jesus lifted up for us.

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How has your character been revealed this week? What will it take for you to become more Christlike?